Entertainment magazine Variety is reporting that Microsoft has quietly done a million-dollar deal with Alex Garland, author of The Beach and the screenplay for 28 Days Later, to adapt the Halo games into one film.

Microsoft has neither confirmed or denied the report, issuing a carefully worded statement that, having trumpeted the series' success to date, states, "We have not, however, made any official movie announcements."

That Microsoft has denied making an announcement rather than doing a deal is interesting, but it may just be that the platform holder doesn't want to rule anything out - and is happy for the Halo series to garner yet more headlines in the aftermath of Halo 2's enormous success.